STEM & Maker Schools
Portland-area schools where kids learn through building, coding, and experimenting, from selective engineering magnets to hands-on maker programs and inquiry-driven science labs.
"Science is much more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking, at once imaginative and disciplined."
The schools
21 STEM & maker schoolsA 6–12 public magnet built entirely around STEM, where a full Career & Technical Education curriculum lets students specialize early in biotechnology, electronics, and engineering through hands-on, project-based labs.
Portland Public Schools' flagship technical high school, recently modernized with dedicated wings for engineering, computer science, and health occupations — a true maker's high school where students build, wire, and prototype.
A tuition-free public K–8 where a "creative science" identity drives constructivist, inquiry-led learning. Students investigate real questions through project work and field studies rather than textbooks.
A premier independent school whose project-based STEM facilities, competitive robotics teams, and advanced independent science research give students room to pursue engineering and inquiry at a serious level.
A half-day public charter where 11th and 12th graders dive into hands-on Career & Technical Education — engineering, computer science, and industry-partnered pathways — alongside their home high school. A pure maker's program.
A 9–12 Cristo Rey college-prep high school where students can pursue a STEAM Pathways certificate in Engineering or Health Sciences alongside a hands-on Maker Space and corporate work-study program.
A fit for families who want maker-style STEM woven into a diverse neighborhood PK–8. STEM here means hands-on making rather than a formal magnet: a dedicated makerspace/STEAM teacher runs classes schoolwide, and the school pairs them with advanced math opportunities and AVID in the middle grades.
A diverse neighborhood 6-8 and one of only six PPS schools with a dedicated district MakerSpace and full-time MakerTech on staff, paired with Mandarin DLI continuation, band, dance, and deep community partner programming through SEI, Maurice Lucas Foundation, and Latino Network.
A PK–8 Catholic parish school built around a dedicated Science Lab in a LEED-Silver building and 1:1 devices at every grade, with a STEM Club rotating through medical health, engineering, and coding/robotics, and an annual Science Fair or Invention Convention.
A top-ranked 6–12 public magnet whose rigorous International Baccalaureate program emphasizes advanced math and science research — one of the strongest academic STEM tracks in the state.
Jesuit's math program runs 20 levels deep, from Algebra I to post-calculus courses like Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Number Theory that few high schools offer. AP Calculus, Statistics, Computer Science, and FIRST Robotics Team 2374 round out a strong STEM path.
A homeschool-hybrid collective for grades 4-6 capped at 8 students, where STEM learning is built from projects the students themselves choose. Hands-on experiments and real-world applications anchor a 2-day-a-week schedule.
Reserved lab sessions on the OMSI museum campus, where homeschool and hybrid families get small-group, hands-on STEM instruction in real science labs — experiments and engineering challenges led by museum educators.
The PK–8 campus of a school often ranked Oregon's top STEM independent school, where inquiry-based learning and early engineering build a foundation that carries straight into the Upper School.
An Episcopal college prep frequently ranked the #1 STEM high school in Oregon (per Niche). Every student completes an original Science Inquiry Project each year, and the strongest work advances from the Aardvark Science Expo to the state and international fairs, where OES students have taken ISEF special awards and a Grand Prize. Electives run 8 deep in computer science and 4 in engineering.
A homeschool co-op that buys its science instruction from OMSI, with weekly Tuesday labs led by museum educators holding degrees in science or science education. The sequence moves students through chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, astronomy, and STEM across the grade levels.
STEM here means making rather than a magnet program. A K–8 Jewish day school with a dedicated Maker Educator and a Makerspace holding a laser cutter, 3D printer, band saw, and Arduino kits. K–5 attends weekly; grades 6–8 take 15-week deep dives in digital fabrication, electronics, and wearable design.
A grades 6-8 option program where environmental science is the STEM: 6 core teachers integrate science, math, language arts, and social studies around systems, change, and sustainability. Students gather real field data for community partners on almost weekly site visits and present at the annual Science Expo.
A tuition-free public charter where place-based environmental science doubles as hands-on STEM. Students do real fieldwork, data collection, and sustainability projects across the surrounding watershed.
Home to Beta Blues, which the school bills as Oregon's only all-girl FIRST Robotics team, alongside Science Olympiad as a for-credit class and a student-run IT internship.
A K–8 public focus option with a heavy STEM emphasis. Every Winterhaven middle schooler takes accelerated math, finishing with Algebra 1-2 for high school credit in 8th grade, and 8th graders take high school biology. The only STEAM focus option reached through the PPS lottery.
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